Operational principle

Analogue

Hybrid

Size and processing power

Mainframe

Minicomputers

Use

Laptop

Netbook

PDA

Server

Supercomputer

Embedded computer

Tablet

Exercise 7. Translate the following text in a written form. Use a dictionary if necessary.

A desktop computer is a small machine that has a screen (which is not part of the computer). Most people keep them on top of a desk that is why they are called ‘desktop computers’. Similar in operation to desktop computers, laptop computers are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use. Laptops run on a single battery or an external adapter that charges the computer batteries. They are enabled with an inbuilt keyboard, touch pad acting as a mouse and a liquid crystal display. Both laptops and desktops are called personal computers, because one person at a time uses them for things like playing music, surfing the web, or playing video games.

There are bigger computers that many people at a time can use. They are mainframes. Large organizations use mainframes for highly critical applications such as bulk data processing. Most of the mainframe computers have capacities to host multiple operating systems and operate as a number of virtual machines. They can substitute for several small servers.

There is another type of computer, called an embedded computer. An embedded computer is a computer that does one thing and one thing only, and usually does it very well. For example, an alarm clock is an embedded computer: it tells the time. Embedded computers cannot be programmed. Some mobile phones, automatic teller machines, microwave ovens, CD players and cars are examples of embedded computers.

Exercise 8. Discuss the following items in small groups.

1. What computer is the best? – Your friend decided to buy a computer. What advice can you give him? Why?

2. Interview between a market researcher and visitors to a computer exhibition.

Exercise 9. Which computer classification would you suggest? Why? Write down an essay of 120-150 words on this topic.

Exercise 10. Write an email (70-100 words) describing the computer you would like to buy for your brother.

Unit 2 The Motherboard

The CPU

Remember the following words and word combinations.

1. expansion card – плата расширения

2. via – через, посредством, с помощью

3. backbone – основа

4. brain – мозг

5. piece – кусок, часть

6. constitute, v – составлять

7. link, v – соединять, связывать

8. main memory – оперативная память

9. sequence – последовательность, ряд

10. receive, v – получать

11. choice – выбор

12. multitasking – многозадачность

13. ability – способность

14. measure, v – измерять

15. the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) – арифметико-логическое устройство

16. control unit – блок управления

17. register – регистр

18. perform, v - выполнять

19. addition - сложение

20. subtraction - вычитание

21. multiplication - умножение

22. division - деление

23. comparison - сравнение

24. track – курс, путь, отслеживание

25. retrieve, v – восстанавливать

26. contain, v – содержать

27. appropriate - соответствующий

28. determine, v – определять

29. speed – скорость

30. remain, v – оставаться

31. etched – выгравированный, травленый

32. etch, v – травить (на металле), вытравливать, гравировать

33. multicore – многожильный

34. surpass, v – превышать

35. create, v – создавать

Read and translate the text.

The motherboard serves as a single platform to connect all of the parts of a computer together. A motherboard connects CPU, memory, hard drives, optical drives, video card, sound card and other ports and expansion cards directly or via cables. It can be considered as the backbone of a computer.

Text 1

The CPU

The central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor is the brain of any computer system. It’s usually built into a single chip. Every computer chip today is a piece of silicon with billions of transistors that together constitute the central processing unit of a computer.

The CPU is linked to main memory, peripheral equipment (including input/output devices), and storage units. The fundamental operation of most CPUs is to execute a sequence of stored instructions called a program. The CPU receives various types of input and produces specific outputs. The choice of processor decides the speed of computing and its multitasking ability. The majority of processors are capable of carrying out a single instruction at a time. However, the one instruction is executed at lightning speed. The speed of a processor is measured in gigahertz (GHz).

There are three typical parts of the CPU:

• the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU);

• the control unit (CU);

• the registers.

The Arithmetic and Logical Unit, or ALU, is the device that performs elementary operations such as arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and so on), logical operations (AND, OR, NOT), and comparison operations (for example, comparing the contents of two "slots" for equality). This unit is where the "real work" is done.

The control unit keeps track of which slot contains the current instruction that the computer is performing, telling the ALU what operation to perform and retrieving the information (from the memory) that it needs to perform it, and transfers the result back to the appropriate memory location.